WWE Backlash was the first PLE to be held in Puerto Rico and one of the biggest draws to the event was that Bad Bunny would be competing in a Tijuana Street Fight against fellow Puerto Rican Damian Priest. This match wasn’t the best technical match of all time, but it won’t ever be forgotten, especially if you’re Puerto Rican or a Bad Bunny fan. That’s due to the incredible Bad Bunny entrance and the well-paced action that happened throughout. The Judgment Day and the Latino World Order stables both got involved during the later moments of this exciting hardcore brawl. But more surprisingly, Savio Vega and Carlito both made shocking appearances too! The extremely loud and hot crowd added to the entire atmosphere of this celebrity-featured brawl.

Bianca Belair versus Iyo Sky was one of those matches you thought would be good, but not great to the point where you’d give it a few repeat viewings. However, both women’s performances here exceeded my expectations and earned themselves a rightful spot on my main lineup of the best wrestling matches of 2023. The combination of solid wrestling and a hot Puerto Rican crowd elevated this match a lot. They got plenty of time to cook here! Belair would find a way to earn the hard-fought victory in the end, but it didn’t come easy. This was also one of the first instances where the fans weren’t really in favor of Bianca and were instead firmly behind her opponent. It didn’t end up being Iyo’s night, but she would be the champion before the summer came to a close.

Gunther has officially become the longest-reigning WWE Intercontinental Champion of all time. 2023 marks the year where Gunther put on a series of his greatest title defenses. His series of clashes against Chad Gable was fantastic. I hate to make comparisons in wrestling often, but it made me reminisce about the classic bouts held between Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar during the early 2000s. Gunther dominated a good portion of this match as the unstoppable force, but Gable made some crowd-popping comebacks as the athletic beast powered by a strong amateur wrestling background. It wasn’t unbelievable that Gable would give Gunther a huge run for his money. Outside of this taking place on Raw (meaning there were some annoying commercial breaks), this ended up being an amazing David versus Goliath battle.

Cody Rhodes won the 2023 Royal Rumble, earning the opportunity to challenge for Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in the process. Roman has been on this incredible three-year run as the champion – everybody figured it was coming to an end and Cody would finally finish his story. It almost felt inevitable that Cody was going to walk away from this show with both title belts held high. I remember seeing his entire family at the hotel earlier in the day before the show, which made me further believe that Cody was going to get the triumphant win here. The bulk of this match was really good and had everyone on the edge of their seats. I think the only reason it doesn’t get the love it deserves is because of the lack of a happy ending when Roman retained his title. Even with that depressing result, I still have to give this match its flowers from being worked well and messing with my emotions from start to finish.

It has nearly been five years of All Elite Wrestling greatness thus far – 2023 was the year that we finally got two of the company’s biggest names (who have been there since day one!) to cross paths. At the time, MJF was days away from ending Kenny Omega’s record as being the longest reigning AEW World Champion during a single reign. MJF started teasing this on the Being The Elite YouTube series (RIP) and the rivalry was officially brought to TV soon after. All of the moments between both men would lead to an AEW World Championship match on AEW Collision. This first-time meeting between MJF and Omegas was an absolute banger between two superstars who have fairly different styles of wrestling. Omega once again proved why he is one of the greatest of the modern era and MJF once again proved that he can have a good match with almost anybody put in front of him.

I feel like The Bloodline storyline reached its climax in 2023 when the angle became the sole focus as the main events for both nights of WrestleMania 39. Night One ended with the major pay-off of the unexpected popularity of Sami Zayn being involved with The Bloodline, which led to Zayn and his on-again/off-again ally Kevin Owens defeating The Usos in the main event of Wrestlemania 39. Without a doubt, this is one of the greatest tag team matches WWE has ever contested. I think the fans all knew what the outcome had to be – the crowd hung on every move dished out during this match as The Usos made the Canadian duo work extra hard for their victory. Sami landing the Helluva Kick on Jey Uso for the win was the perfect ending to a fired-up first night of WrestleMania action. This was the perfect happy ending the fans needed for the incredible Sami/Bloodline angle.

If there is one thing about FTR, it’s that at least once a year minimum they’re going to give us a master class in tag team wrestling. They did exactly that with Bullet Club Gold members Jay White and Juice Robinson. They had a great match before this one that White and Robinson won, which led to this legendary Two Out of Three Falls rematch getting booked thereafter. This match was like having three separate great matches all rolled into one. They took up the whole first hour of AEW Collision and tore the house down during the entirety of their second meeting. That was just an instant classic that further cemented AEW Collision as the best weekly wrestling show when it first started.

It was the Bloodline Civil War as The Usos stepped up to face their family in Roman and Solo Sikoa at WWE Money in the Bank 2023. The Bloodline was falling apart due to inner turmoil in the leadup to this heated tag team affair. The Usos had decided that they had enough of Roman’s run as a ruthless tyrant. In a shocking move, Jimmy and Jey Uso’s brother Solo ultimately chose to stand by the “Tribal Chief.” Similar to most Bloodline-related matches, it started slow but picked up during its final moments. Thanks to the greatness of The Bloodline storyline as a whole, the fans were fully invested in everything this match delivered. Jey shocked the world when he pinned Roman, who hadn’t been pinned since 2020. That winning pinfall resulted in ending an incredible record and truly felt like a star-making moment for Jey that was several years in the making.

I’ll be honest – most of the matches on this list that happened outside of WWE or AEW were matches that I missed out on but were highly recommended to me, so I went out of my way to watch them. This dream match between Will Ospreay and “Speedball” Mike Bailey ended up being one of my favorite viewings from outside the main two North American wrestling companies. It took place on Impact Wrestling’s marquee Bound for Glory PPV and I think it stole the show! This was a ridiculous year for Ospreay, who has found the perfect recipe for his high-flying style combined with his newer slower heavyweight style of wrestling. He knows when to pick things up and knows when to slow things down. This match lacked any real story coming into it. But as a stand-alone match, it proved to be fantastic and highly competitive throughout.

I was live in attendance for WrestleMania 39 and personally, the WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship match ended up being my favorite match of Night One. Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley got robbed of having an all-time classic in front of fans at WrestleMania 36, so I’m glad they got to run it back in 2023. They pulled out all the stops and brought the best out of each other on the biggest stage of them all. Both ladies are super athletic and powerful, which helped their styles mesh perfectly together. I have a theory that there is always a 50-percent chance that Charlotte can end up with her hand raised during her high-stakes matches. I was fearful that Charlotte’s luck would have worked in her favor during this match. Thankfully, Rhea walked out of this hard-hitting affair as the new WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion. I’ll never forget how both women blasted each other with their best shot, which helped it achieve its status as the best women’s wrestling match of 2023.

Gunther’s historic WWE Intercontinental Championship reign never seemed at more risk than it did here at WrestleMania 39 when he defended it against both Drew McIntyre and Sheamus. Under Triple Threat Match rules there are no countouts or disqualifications, which meant this big-man meeting could have gotten out of hand with the inclusion of backstage brawling and weapons usage. Instead, all three of these guys focused on tearing each other to pieces with nothing but their unbridled strength and stiff striking power. This match produced several breathtaking nearfalls and it looked as if like any competitor could come out on top. The real-life friendship between Sheamus and McIntyre was tested here like it had been in the past. All three of these brutes are certified tough guys, so they made an effort to beat the ever-loving crap out of each other and had the fans in the palm of their hands the whole time they did. This one’s an absolute banger!